This week we marked the 1 year anniversary of COVID-19 being recognized as a pandemic – a worldwide disruptive disease impacting human health, wellbeing resulting in much disruption to peoples lives. These disruptions have impacted all societies on earth; driving people to reprioritize their values, interests, how they spend their time and of course, how they spend their money. With much DISRUPTION comes an ACCELERATION of change. This journey both personally and professionally has had a lot of rough waters this past year, how can we get to a calmer and less chaotic future? The answer for decision makers might be to recognize where we are in the journey, and assess the tools and skills needed to steer this ship towards a safe haven. It could be closer than you think.
In a recent Forbes magazine article – it outlines 10 companies stories of how they have “pivoted” or accelerated change in their business’s. So, 1 year into this accelerated change and now business owners and CFO’s need to continue to the next stage of this accelerated Change.
Here are some bullet points for owners and CFO’s to consider at the 1 year mark of this Pandemic:
- Recognize that the accelerated change (new partnerships, new ways of dealing with supply chain and customers etc.) is not yet complete.
- The decisions you have made for accelerated change have forever changed your business.
- Companies who can measure the financial changes, find the trends, and make the hard decisions will thrive. It is not encouraging, but the hardest decisions are still ahead. If you cannot measure it, you cannot manage it.
- After 1 year of focusing on survival, now is the time to focus on the new future and what I coin as a phrase “thurvival” – a hybrid of transition from survival to Thriving.
- Recognize that the new “pivoted” company is the new company and treat it like a new company – focus on limiting risks, doing more of what is working and less of what is not, improve efficiencies and plan for a quick growth due to “pent up demand”.
Owners, CFO’s and Managing Directors – you have been through a most difficult year. Effecting accelerated change is painful and stressful. You likely have the tools in your business already to help with this next phase for moving beyond survival, but you may need help. As an example, your CRM and ERP financial reporting tools are likely configured to how the business USED to run. The very best way to affect a new company direction and strategy is to use the “re-implementation” of your existing systems to drive a new vision and a lower cost of doing business. For this most companies will need help from people who are outside of your organizations (people will naturally default to the “old way”). To PIVOT your BUSINESS SOFTWARE SYSTEMS is a delicate process, requiring significant experience. Your Business Software Partner – like Mibusoft has managed this kind of accelerated change for hundreds of companies, spanning multiple industries. They bring valuable perspectives of multiple ways to bring process and business improvements to the surface in the least disruptive way.
Take it from a leader of a large organization who understands, this journey isn’t yet done. Your best move will be to seek a partner who can help you “limit the disruption” that’s yet ahead as you “rebuild” the business. All of us are looking forward to ‘calmer waters’ ahead. Let’s do it together.
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